Information processing apparatus, design support method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium for recording design support program

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus: calculates, for each part at a first time point, a first priority determination value for a first priority based on a first shortest distance between a first viewpoint and the parts and a first projection distance between a first screen center at the first time point and the parts; calculates, for each part at a second time point, a second priority determination value for a second priority based on a second shortest distance between the first viewpoint and the parts and a second projection distance between a second screen center at the second time point and the parts; calculates a third priority determination value by replacing the first view point with viewpoint candidates; selects a new first viewpoint among the first viewpoint and the viewpoint candidates; and reproduces an image of the parts at the first time point as viewed from the new viewpoint.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of theprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-054668, filed on Mar. 21,2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The embodiment discussed herein is related to a design support program,an information processing apparatus, a design support method, and anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium for recording a designsupport program.

BACKGROUND

When developing new model products, such as various terminal devices, itis desirable that the designer reference the information about a defectfound in the past and the information (for example, a checklist) about aportion pointed out by, for example, other designers in the past andcheck and test the state of the portion of interest (a part ofinterest).

At this time, in order to make use of the accumulated information aboutdefects found in the product development phase or in the market in thepast for each of products (the information about the past state of apart of interest), the information may be reproduced and displayed for apart of interest in the screen of a display unit that displays the mostrecent status of a product currently being developed.

Related technologies are disclosed in Japanese Laid-open PatentPublication No. 2003-330972, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.11-272719, or International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2013/058117.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the embodiments, an information processingapparatus includes: a processor; and a memory configured to store adesign support program executed by the processor, wherein the processor:calculates, for each of a plurality of parts at a first time pointduring a design, a first priority determination value for a firstpriority to display each of the parts at the first time point based on afirst shortest distance between a first viewpoint and the respectiveparts and a first projection distance between a first screen center of afirst display screen that displays a state of the respective parts asviewed from the first viewpoint at the first time point and therespective parts; calculates, for each of the parts at a second timepoint after the first time point, a second priority determination valuefor a second priority to display the respective parts at the second timepoint based on a second shortest distance between the first viewpointand the respective parts and a second projection distance between asecond screen center of a second display screen that displays a state ofthe respective parts as viewed from the first viewpoint at the secondtime point and the respective parts; calculates, when the first prioritybased on the first priority determination value differs from the secondpriority based on the second priority determination value, a thirdpriority determination value corresponding to the second prioritydetermination value by replacing the first viewpoint with each of one ormore viewpoint candidates other than the first viewpoint; selects, as anew first viewpoint, a second viewpoint from among the first viewpointand the one or more viewpoint candidates based on the third prioritydetermination value; reproduces an image of the respective parts at thefirst time point as viewed from the new viewpoint; and displays theimage on a display circuit.

The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attainedby means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out inthe claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and arenot restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a correspondence relationship betweenthe assembly model configurations before a design change and theassembly model configuration after the design change;

FIGS. 2A to 2C illustrate an example in which a part of interest whichwas visible in the display screen before a design change becomesinvisible after the design change;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an information processing apparatus;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of information stored in a storage unitillustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the functional configuration of aprocessing unit illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the functional configuration of anoutput unit illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the details of recorded partinformation illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of the details of recorded defectinformation illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of the details of recorded viewpointreproduction information illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of the details of recorded field-of-viewinformation associated with the viewpoint reproduction informationillustrated in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of the details of recorded measurementinformation associated with the viewpoint reproduction informationillustrated in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of the procedure for recording andreproducing a defective portion;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of the process in operation S1illustrated in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a three-dimensional assembly model atthe time of occurrence of a defect;

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of the field-of-view information;

FIG. 16 illustrates the visible/invisible state of a model part;

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of the shortest distance between aviewpoint and each of parts;

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of the visible/invisible within the areaof the field of view;

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of a projection distance between thescreen center and each of the parts;

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of the process in operation S2illustrated in FIG. 12;

FIG. 21 illustrates an example of the process in operation S3illustrated in FIG. 12;

FIG. 22 illustrates an example of the process in the operation S34illustrated in FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 illustrates an example of the processes in operations S5 and S6illustrated in FIG. 12;

FIG. 24 illustrates an example of a first priority determination valueand a first priority of the reproduction source model part;

FIG. 25 illustrates an example of a second priority determination valueand a second priority of the reproduction destination model part;

FIG. 26 illustrates an example of offset values between a reproductionsource model part and a reproduction destination model part;

FIG. 27 illustrates an example of the positions of the candidates for anew viewpoint;

FIG. 28 illustrates an example of a viewpoint/line of sight/point ofinterest;

FIG. 29 illustrates an example of a displayed reproduction markcorresponding to the viewpoint/line of sight/point of interestillustrated in FIG. 28,

FIG. 30 illustrates an example of a fully visible state and an exampleof a displayed reproduction mark;

FIG. 31 illustrates an example of the visibility state seen during thepreview and an example of a displayed reproduction mark;

FIG. 32 illustrates an example of the procedure for automatic setting ofa portion of interest;

FIG. 33 illustrates an example of the process in operation S61illustrated in FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 illustrates an example of display control of the reproductionmark in accordance with the line-of-sight direction; and

FIG. 35 illustrates an example of viewpoint movement in accordance withthe distance between the viewpoints projected on the inclusive sphere.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

For example, the visibility state of a defective portion (the past stateof the part of interest) is reproduced, but the current state may havechanged from the state at the time of recording the defective portion.

For example, in some cases, in accordance with the progress of thedesign of the product after the recording of the defective portion, theportion that was visible at the time of recording the defective portionis hidden and becomes invisible due to a newly added part or the partwhose position has been changed.

Therefore, at the viewpoint position at which the defective portion wasrecorded or in the visibility state in which the defective portion wasrecorded, the portion to be displayed (for example, a part of interest)may not be displayed and, thus, the designer, for example, may be unableto check the part of interest.

For example, when the visibility state of a defective portion isreproduced, the current state may have changed from the state at thetime of recording the defective portion. For example, with the progressof product design after the recording of the defective portion, a partthat was visible at the time of recording the defective part may behidden and becomes invisible by a newly added part or an existing partwhose position has been changed. Therefore, at the viewpoint position atwhich the defective portion was recorded or in the visibility state inwhich the defective portion was recorded, the portion to be displayed(for example, a part of interest) may not be displayed and, thus, thedesigner, for example, may be unable to check the part of interest.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, by using the assembly modelconfiguration information (part IDs) before and after a design change,the same part is identified, or a newly added part is identified. FIG. 1illustrates an example of a correspondence relationship between assemblymodel configurations before and after a design change.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, it is determined that parts having the samepart ID “A” before and after a design change are determined as the sameparts. In this manner, after identifying the same parts before and aftera design change, the visible/invisible state of the specified part isreproduced. Hereinafter, a part having the part ID “A” is referred to asa “part A”.

It is determined that a part E that does not exist before a designchange and exists after the design change is a newly added part.However, because the visible/invisible mode is not set for the newlyadded part, the added part blocks the line of sight. For example, whenthe state illustrated in FIG. 2A (before a design change) is changed tothe state illustrated in FIG. 2B, that is, the state where the part E isadded, the line of sight from the viewpoint before the design change isblocked by the part E and, thus, a part B (a part of interest) becomesinvisible from the viewpoint.

In addition, when the state illustrated in FIG. 2A (before a designchange) is changed to the state illustrated in FIG. 2C, for example, thestate in which a part D has been relocated, the line of sight from theviewpoint before a design change is blocked by the part D and, thus, thepart B (the part of interest) becomes invisible from the viewpointbefore the design change. FIGS. 2A to 2C illustrate an example in whicha part of interest which was visible in the display screen before adesign change becomes invisible after the design change.

As described above, by simply indicating the same parts before and aftera design change, the visible/invisible state of each of the parts maynot be reproduced.

In order to reproduce the visibility state of a defective portion duringthe checking work of many portions (for example, defective portions) andreuse it, the viewpoint position is to be recorded together withinformation as to “what is looked at and which portion is being checked”(for example, the name of viewpoint is input). However, this operationis very cumbersome and, thus, may not be performed.

An information processing apparatus (for example, a computer) identifiesa part of interest (a portion of interest) based on the viewpointposition and the visibility state that are frequently used. Thereafter,the information processing apparatus automatically reproduces theviewpoint position and the visibility state in accordance with a change(for example, a change in the position or the shape of the part ofinterest or addition of a part in the vicinity of the part of interest)(refer to FIGS. 32 and 33).

At this time, in order to identify the portion of interest, theviewpoint position and the visibility state may be determined bycombining the visibility states around the portion of interest based onthe viewpoint (the shortest distance) and the line of sight (theprojection distance). Relocation of a part, a change in the shape of apart, or addition of a part, which occurs during the progress of designof the target model, may be processed by determining the priority ofeach of the parts to be displayed based on the shortest distance and theprojection distance. The visibility state may be reproduced at aviewpoint close to that in the visibility state at the time of recording(the recording state) by changing the viewpoint position based on thepoint of measurement (the measure point) of each of the recorded parts(refer to FIGS. 32 and 33). The point of measurement (the measure point)of each of the parts corresponds to a point (the vertex) of the partwhen the shortest distance between the viewpoint and the part iscalculated.

At this time, without recording the visibility state by specialequipment, the visibility state of the portion that are frequentlyreferenced by, for example, the designer is automatically reproduced anddisplayed as the visibility state of the part of interest based on theoperations usually performed on the screen by the designer (refer toFIG. 32 and FIG. 33). As a result, movement of the viewpoint for theportion of interest and reproduction of the visibility state are easilyperformed, so that the reproduction and display are performed inaccordance with the progress of design of the target model.

The information processing apparatus is an apparatus suitable for use inreproducing an example of the design of the structure of a portion whosedefect was pointed out in the past, for example, reproducing thedisplayed image of a portion in which a defect occurred (the visibilitystate of a defective portion). Therefore, in order to reproduce anddisplay the image of the defective portion in accordance with a changeeven when the parts that constitute a product and that are handled as avirtual three-dimensional assembly model are changed due to a designchange, the information processing apparatus has the functions (11) to(14) described below (refer to FIGS. 12 to 27).

(11) Reproduction Information Recording Function (refer to FIG. 5, FIGS.8 to 11, and FIGS. 13 to 19)

The function (11) automatically records defect information 22 andviewpoint reproduction information 23 at the time of occurrence of adefect or when display of the image from a certain viewpoint satisfies apredetermined condition (for example, display of the image continues fora predetermined time period or longer). The information includes theshortest distance between the viewpoint and the part, the projectiondistance between the screen center of the viewpoint image and each ofthe parts, the viewpoint image, and the display portion of theannotation/dimension related to, for example, the defective portion. Theviewpoint image is an image (the visibility state) that is seen whenviewed in the predetermined line-of-sight direction from the viewpoint.The viewpoint image is also referred to as a “view field image”.

(12) Visibility State Reproduction Function (refer to FIGS. 5, 21 to 27)

The function (12) reproduces the visibility of the part which matchesthe part at the time of recording by the function (11). In addition, forthe part which does not match the part at the time of recording by thefunction (11) or the part which matches the part at the time ofrecording by the function (11) and, however, was relocated so as to hideanother part visible at the time of recording, the function (12)determines a priority of visibility based on the shortest distance andthe projection distance at the time of recording. The function (11)records annotations and the dimensions based on the viewpoint andvisibility state at the time of creation, and the function (12)reproduces and displays the recorded annotations and dimensions inaccordance with the current state.

The function (12) changes the viewpoint position based on the difference(for example, offset) between the point of measurement of each of theparts at the time of recording by the function (11) and the currentpoint of measurement of the part. At this time, the function (12)acquires at least one offset viewpoint as a candidate viewpoint based onthe difference and selects one from among the viewpoint for the portionof interest at the time of recording and the at least one candidateviewpoint based on a priority determination value (for example, thepriority) or the similarity of a feature amount. For example, thefunction (12) compares the viewpoints with one another in terms of thepriority determination value or the viewpoint images and selects aviewpoint with a low priority determination value (for example, a highpriority) or a viewpoint with a high similarity as a new viewpoint forthe portion of interest. In comparison of the viewpoint images, theviewpoint images may be directly compared with each other, or thesimilarities of the feature amount of the viewpoint images obtained bymachine learning may be compared with each other.

(13) Automatic Viewpoint Recording Function (refer to FIGS. 5, 32, and33)

If viewpoint movement or a change in the visibility state is notperformed for several seconds (a predetermined time period) after aviewpoint movement, the function (13) automatically records thereproduction information for the viewpoint and the viewpoint image atthat time. Among the plurality of recorded viewpoints, the function (13)groups the viewpoints for which the points of interest are physicallyclose to one another. Like the function (12), the function (13) selects,from among the plurality of viewpoints in the same group, the one(corresponding to a new viewpoint in the function (12)) as arepresentative point of the viewpoints. The point of interest is theintersection point of the line of sight from the viewpoint and the partface (the face of the part of interest which is the portion ofinterest). As the same group, the group including the largest number ofviewpoints may be selected.

(14) Viewpoint Checking Function (refer to FIGS. 5, 6, 28 to 31, 34, and35)

The function (14) displays, in the portion of interest, a reproductionmark associated with the portion of interest and the viewpoint positionof the portion of interest by using an output unit (for example, adisplay unit). In addition, the function (14) reproduces thevisibility/invisibility of the part through, for example, a hoveroperation performed over the reproduction mark by using an input unit(for example, a mouse) to display a viewpoint image. When thereproduction mark is selected through, for example, a click operation,the function (14) switches the visibility state on the display unit tothe visibility state seen from the viewpoint for the portion of interestassociated with the reproduction mark. The function (14) projects thereproduction marks onto the inclusive sphere and selects a reproductionmark (a projection viewpoint) close in distance to the current viewpointthrough an operation using an arrow key. The function (14) moves theviewpoint of the viewpoint image to be displayed to the viewpointassociated with the selected reproduction mark and reproduces, on thedisplay unit, the visibility state seen from the moved viewpoint. Inthis manner, a viewpoint is easily moved.

In a design phase, the state of the portion of interest changes due to ashape change or a layout change. In addition, the state of the portionof interest changes when checking a similar portion in another modelproduct. Due to such a change, the portion of interest may be coveredwith a part. At this time, according to the information processingapparatus, by prioritizing the parts to be displayed based on theshortest distance and the projection distance at the time of recording,it is possible to reproduce and display the portion of interest so thatthe portion of interest is visible on the display unit in accordancewith the change. In this manner, even when a design change is made, thereproduction and display are performed without hiding the part ofinterest.

According to the information processing apparatus, when a portion ofinterest moves, the point of measurement of the movement destination andthe point of measurement of the movement source are compared with eachother, and the viewpoint is moved to a position closer to the viewpointat the time of recording. Thus, the portion related to the portion ofinterest is reproduced and displayed.

According to the information processing apparatus, it is possible toautomatically record a portion that is seen and the visibility statebased on the ordinary usage conditions and display the viewpoint and thevisibility state which are frequently used as the recommended displaycandidate on the display unit. By performing a hover operation or thelike over the reproduction mark by using the input unit, the viewpointimage associated with the reproduction mark is displayed in a simplifieddisplay manner or in a reduced display manner. In this way, theviewpoint image and the visibility state are previewed before switchingthe screen (the viewpoint) (refer to FIG. 31).

As described above, according to the information processing apparatus,by using the variety of functions (11) to (14) described above, it ispossible to easily switch the viewpoint and the visibility state for theportion of interest and to reduce the time of various confirmationprocessing performed for a product to be designed.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the information processing apparatus.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the information processing apparatus 1reproduces a viewpoint and a visibility state corresponding to a portionof interest, such as a defective portion. An example of the informationprocessing apparatus 1 is a computer, such as a personal computer or aserver computer. The information processing apparatus 1 includes aninput unit 10, a storage unit 20, a processing unit 30, and an outputunit 40. The input unit 10, the storage unit 20, the processing unit 30,and the output unit 40 are connected to one another so as to communicatewith one another via a bus.

The input unit 10 is an input device for inputting various kinds ofinformation. An example of the input unit 10 is an input device thatreceives input of operations, such as a mouse, a keyboard, atouch-sensitive panel, or an operation button. The input unit 10receives various inputs. For example, the input unit 10 receives anoperation input from a user, such as a designer, and inputs operationinformation indicating the received type of operation to the processingunit 30.

The storage unit 20 stores programs, such as an operating system (OS),firmware, and applications, and various data. A variety of storagedevices may be used to serve as the storage unit 20. Examples of thestorage unit 20 include a magnetic disk device, such as a hard diskdrive (HDD), a semiconductor drive device, such as a solid state drive(SSD), and a nonvolatile memory. Examples of the nonvolatile memoryinclude a flash memory, a storage class memory (SCM), and a read onlymemory (ROM). Furthermore, a volatile memory, such as a RAM (forexample, a dynamic RAM (DRAM)), may be used as the storage unit 20. RAMstands for Random Access Memory. In the storage unit 20, programs thatprovide all or some of the variety of functions of the computer 1 may bestored.

In the storage unit 20, a design support program that implements thevariety of functions illustrated in FIG. 5 (refer to reference numerals31 to 37) and that is executed by the processing unit 30 is stored. Inaddition, various information 21 to 23 illustrated in FIG. 4 are stored.FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the information stored in the storageunit 20 illustrated in FIG. 3. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the storageunit 20 stores part information 21, defect information 22, and viewpointreproduction information 23. The viewpoint reproduction information 23includes field-of-view information 231 and measurement information 232.

By executing the programs and the like in the storage unit 20, theprocessing unit 30 performs various control and calculation functions byusing various data stored in the storage unit 20. An integrated circuit(IC), such as a CPU, a GPU, an MPU, a DSP, an ASIC, or a PLD (forexample, FPGA), may be used as the processing unit 30. CPU stands forCentral Processing Unit, GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit, andMPU stands for Micro Processing Unit. DSP stands for Digital SignalProcessor, and ASIC stands for Application Specific Integrated Circuit.PLD stands for Programmable Logic Device, FPGA stands for FieldProgrammable Gate Array, and IC stands for Integrated Circuit.

The processing unit 30 executes the design support program according tothe present embodiment stored in the storage unit 20. Thus, asillustrated in FIG. 5, the processing unit 30 functions as areproduction information recording unit 31, a visibility statereproduction unit 32, a new viewpoint reproduction unit 33, aportion-of-interest viewpoint determination unit 34, a mark displaycontrol unit 35, a portion-of-interest viewpoint grouping unit 36, and aviewpoint moving unit 37. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of thefunctional configuration of the processing unit illustrated in FIG. 3.

The output unit 40 includes a display unit in which the visibility stateis controlled by the variety of functions provided by the processingunit 30 executing the design support program according to the presentembodiment. A variety of output devices, such as a liquid crystaldisplay, an organic electroluminescence (EL) display, a plasma display,a projector, and a printer, may be used as the output unit 40. Asillustrated in FIG. 6, the output unit (the display unit) 40 functionsas a reproduction display unit 41 and a reproduction mark display unit42 by using the variety of functions provided by the processing unit 30.FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the functional configuration of theoutput unit illustrated in FIG. 3.

The processing unit 30 is a functional unit that performs processing byusing the information, such as shape data, stored in the storage unit20. The output unit 40 is a unit for visualizing data generated by thestorage unit 20 and the processing unit 30.

The information processing apparatus 1 may include a communicationinterface and a medium reading unit. The communication interfaceperforms connection with another apparatus and control of communicationwith the apparatus via a network. Examples of the communicationinterface include an adapter conforming to Ethernet (registeredtrademark) or optical communication (for example, Fiber Channel) and anetwork interface card, such as a local area network (LAN) card. Byusing the communication interface, a program, for example, may bedownloaded via a network (not illustrated).

The medium reading unit is a reader that reads out data and programsstored on the recording medium and loads the data and program onto thestorage unit 20 or inputs the data and program to the processing unit30. Examples of the medium reading unit include an adapter conforming toUniversal Serial Bus (USB) or the like, a drive unit for accessing arecording disk, and a card reader for accessing a flash memory, such asan SD card. A program, for example, may be stored in the recordingmedium.

An example of a recording medium is a non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium, such as a magnetic/optical disk or a flash memory.Examples of a magnetic/optical disk include a flexible disk, a CompactDisc (CD), a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), a Blu-ray Disc, and aHolographic Versatile Disc (HVD). An example of a flash memory is asemiconductor memory, such as a USB memory or an SD card. Note thatexamples of a CD include a CD-ROM, a CD-R, and a CD-RW. Examples of aDVD include a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, a DVD-R, a DVD-RW, a DVD+R, and aDVD+RW.

The storage unit 20 stores structural data of a three-dimensionalassembly model of a product to be designed and the part information 21including information about each of a plurality of parts that constitutethe product to be designed (for example, the shape data of each of theparts, refer to FIG. 7). The part information 21 is input from, forexample, the input unit 10, the above-described communication interface,or the medium reading unit, and is stored in the storage unit 20.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the details of the recorded partinformation illustrated in FIG. 4. In FIG. 7, for example, the shapedata of each of the parts is illustrated. In FIG. 7, the shape data of apart having the part ID “A”, that is, the part A is recorded. As theshape data of the part A, the three-dimensional coordinates (the vertexcoordinates) of each of the vertices of the part A are recorded inassociation with one of vertex IDs (point 1, point 2, . . . ) thatidentify the vertices of the part A, and the vertex IDs of each of thefaces of the part A are recorded in association with one of face IDs(face 1, face 2, . . . ) that identify the faces of the part A.

The storage unit 20 stores the defect information 22 and the viewpointreproduction information 23 illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 11. If a defectiveportion is detected, the defect information 22 and the viewpointreproduction information 23 regarding the defective portion are acquiredand stored in the storage unit 20 by the reproduction informationrecording unit 31.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of the details of the recorded defectinformation illustrated in FIG. 4. In FIG. 8, the details of a defect(for example, “insufficient strength around the button hole of the uppercover”) and a viewpoint reproduction information ID (for example,Viewinfo001) for identifying the viewpoint reproduction information 23of the defect are recorded as the defect information 22 in associationwith a defect ID (for example, 1d3×) for identifying a defect thatoccurred. The viewpoint reproduction information 23 is used to reproducethe viewpoint and the visibility state corresponding to the portion ofinterest (in this example, the defective portion at the time ofoccurrence of the defect). The viewpoint reproduction information 23includes the field-of-view information 231 and the measurementinformation 232.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of the details of the viewpointreproduction information illustrated in FIG. 4. In FIG. 9, afield-of-view information ID, a visible ID, an invisible part ID, atranslucent part ID, and an image ID are recorded in association withthe viewpoint reproduction information ID (for example, Viewinfo001) foridentifying the viewpoint reproduction information 23. The field-of-viewinformation ID (for example, View001) identifies the field-of-viewinformation 231 (refer to FIG. 10) regarding the field of view from theviewpoint when viewing the defective portion on the display unit at thetime of occurrence of a defect. The visible ID (for example, Visible001)identifies the measurement information 232 (refer to FIG. 11) regardingthe measurement result of each of the parts located within the field ofview defined by the field-of-view information 231 for the ID “View001”,for example. The invisible part ID (for example, part ID “C”) identifiesan invisible part having a visibility state of “invisible”. Thetranslucent part ID identifies a translucent part having a visibilitystate of “translucent”. In FIG. 9, “—(hyphen)” is set so as to indicatethat there is no translucent part. The image ID (for example, Image001)identifies an image of the defective portion displayed as a defectiveportion at the time of occurrence of a defect. The display data of theimage is stored in a predetermined area of the storage unit 20 inassociation with the image ID. The image has a viewpoint and a field ofview defined by the field-of-view information 231 having an ID of“View001”.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of the details of the recordedfield-of-view information 231 (the field-of-view information ID“View001”) associated with the viewpoint reproduction information 23illustrated in FIG. 9. In FIG. 10, various kinds of information thatdefine the field of view is recorded in association with thefield-of-view information ID (for example, View001) identifying thefield-of-view information 231. As the various kinds of information thatdefine the field of view, three-dimensional coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) ofthe viewpoint position, a rotation angle (Xθ, Yθ, Zθ), a viewing angle(horizontal/vertical), a line-of-sight direction, the three-dimensionalcoordinates of the position of the intersection point, and the part ID(for example, A) of the intersection part are recorded. The position ofthe intersection point is the three-dimensional coordinates of the pointat which the line of sight from the viewpoint intersects with the part.The position of the intersection point corresponds to the position ofthe point of interest. The intersection part ID is a part ID foridentifying a part on which the above-described position of theintersection point is located, that is, a part that intersects with theabove-described line of sight. The intersection part ID corresponds tothe part-of-interest ID.

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating an example of the details of the recordedmeasurement information 232 (the display ID “Visible001”) associatedwith the viewpoint reproduction information 23 illustrated in FIG. 9. InFIG. 11, a part ID (for example, A, B, or D) for identifying each of theparts located in the field of view is recorded in association with thevisible ID (for example, Visible001). In the example illustrated in FIG.11, the visible/invisible, shortest distance, projection distance,three-dimensional coordinates of the point of measurement, face IDs, andvertex IDs of each of the parts are recorded in association with a partID. In terms of visible/invisible, “visible” is recorded when the partis identifiable in the field of view (detectable by the eye). Incontrast, “invisible” is recorded when the part is unidentifiable in thefield of view (undetectable by the eye). The shortest distance is theshortest distance (for example, the first shortest distance) between theviewpoint and the part as illustrated in FIG. 17. As illustrated in FIG.19, the projection distance is a projection distance between the screencenter (for example, the center of the first screen) of the displayscreen (for example, the first display screen) for displaying the partsas viewed from the viewpoint and the part (for example, the firstprojection distance). As described above, the point of measurement (forexample, the measure point) of each of the parts correspond to a point(for example, a vertex) on the part when the shortest distance betweenthe viewpoint and the part is calculated. The face ID of the point ofmeasurement identifies a face of the part where the point of measurementis located. The vertex ID of the point of measurement identifies avertex on the part corresponding to the point of measurement.

A variety of functions performed by the processing unit 30 and theoutput unit 40 include the reproduction information recording unit 31,the visibility state reproduction unit 32, the new viewpointreproduction unit 33, the portion-of-interest viewpoint determinationunit 34, the mark display control unit 35, the portion-of-interestviewpoint grouping unit 36, the viewpoint moving unit 37, thereproduction display unit 41, and the reproduction mark display unit 42.

If a defect occurs in a design phase, the reproduction informationrecording unit 31 may define one of a plurality of parts included in thethree-dimensional assembly model as a portion of interest (for example,a part of interest, a defective portion). Thereafter, the reproductioninformation recording unit 31 may acquire the defect information 22 andthe viewpoint reproduction information 23 regarding the portion ofinterest (refer to FIGS. 8 to 11) and record the information in thestorage unit 20.

The reproduction information recording unit 31 may automatically recordthe viewpoint reproduction information 23 if displayed view from acertain viewpoint satisfies a predetermined condition (for example, theview is continuously displayed for a predetermined time period orlonger) by the operation performed by, for example, the designer.

By using the defect information 22 and the viewpoint reproductioninformation 23 recorded in the storage unit 20, the visibility statereproduction unit 32 displays, on the output unit 40, the reproducedvisibility state focused on the defective portion at the time ofoccurrence of the defect in the three-dimensional assembly model whosedesign has progressed or the visibility state of the portion of interestseen from the viewpoint that the designer, for example, frequently uses.At this time, the reproduction display unit 41 is a function provided bycontrolling the display state of the output unit 40 by the visibilitystate reproduction unit 32. The reproduction display unit 41 visualizesthe visibility state of the portion of interest on the output unit (thedisplay unit) 40 and displays the reproduced image of the portion ofinterest.

If a difference (for example, an offset) is generated between the pointof measurement of each of the parts at the time of recording the defectinformation 22 and the viewpoint reproduction information 23 and thepoint of measurement of the current part (the part after the design hasprogressed), the new viewpoint reproduction unit 33 changes theviewpoint position based on the difference. At this time, the newviewpoint reproduction unit 33 acquires one or more offset viewpoints asviewpoint candidates (for example, the candidates of a new viewpoint)based on the difference.

By using the priority determination value (for example, the priority) orthe similarity of the feature amount, the portion-of-interest viewpointdetermination unit 34 selects, as a new viewpoint, one of the viewpointsfor the portion of interest and the one or more viewpoint candidates atthe time of recording. For example, the portion-of-interest viewpointdetermination unit 34 compares the priority determination values and theviewpoint images (the similarities of the feature amounts of theviewpoint images obtained by machine learning) for the viewpoints withone another. The portion-of-interest viewpoint determination unit 34determines the viewpoint having the smallest priority determinationvalue (for example, the highest priority) or the highest similarity as anew viewpoint for the portion of interest.

The above-described functions serving as the new viewpoint reproductionunit 33 and the portion-of-interest viewpoint determination unit 34 areimplemented by the design support program according to the presentembodiment, which causes the computer 1 (the processing unit 30) toperform processes (21) to (24) described below (refer to FIG. 23).

Process (21) calculates, for each of the parts (the reproduction sourcemodel parts) at the time of occurrence of a defect (for example, at afirst time point) in a design phase, a first priority determinationvalue used to determine a first priority for displaying the part basedon the first shortest distance between one viewpoint and the part and afirst projection distance (refer to FIG. 24). The first projectiondistance is a projection distance between the first screen center of thefirst display screen and the part. Note that the first display screendisplays the part of interest as viewed from the viewpoint at the timeof occurrence of a defect.

Process (22) calculates, for each of the parts (for example, thereproduction source model parts) at the current time after a defectoccurred (for example, at a second time point), a second prioritydetermination value used to determine a second priority for displayingthe part at the current time based on the second shortest distancebetween one viewpoint and the part and a second projection distance(refer to FIG. 25). The second projection distance is a projectiondistance between a second screen center of a second display screen andthe part. Note that the second display screen displays the part asviewed from the viewpoint at the current time.

If the first priority differs from the second priority, the process (23)selects, as a new viewpoint, one among the one viewpoint and the one ormore viewpoint candidates based on third priority determination values.The third priority determination value corresponds to the secondpriority determination value and is calculated, for each of one or moreviewpoint candidates other than the one viewpoint (refer to FIGS. 26 and27), by replacing the one viewpoint with the viewpoint candidate. Thefirst priority and the second priority are determined by the firstpriority determination value and the second priority determinationvalue, respectively.

Process (24) displays, on the output unit (the display unit) 40, thereproduced image of the part (for example, the part of interest) at thetime of occurrence of a defect as viewed from the new viewpoint selectedby the process (23).

At this time, the processing unit 30 calculates the first prioritydetermination value such that the first priority determination valuedecreases as a part at the time of occurrence of a defect is closer tothe first screen center and determines the first priority of the partsuch that the first priority increases as the first prioritydetermination value of the part decreases. The processing unit 30calculates the second priority determination value such that the secondpriority determination value decreases as a part at the current time iscloser to the second screen center and determines the second priority ofthe part such that the second priority increases as the second prioritydetermination value of the part decreases. For example, a value obtainedby multiplying the value of the first shortest distance by the squarevalue of the first projection distance is used as the first prioritydetermination value, and the value obtained by multiplying the value ofthe second shortest distance by the square value of the secondprojection distance is used as the second priority determination value.

The processing unit 30 selects, as a new viewpoint, the smallest valueamong the sum of the second priority determination values of therespective parts calculated for one viewpoint and the sum of the thirdpriority determination values of the parts calculated for each of theone or more viewpoint candidates.

The case where the first time point represents the time of theoccurrence of a defect and the second time point represents the currenttime is discussed below. The one viewpoint is the viewpoint at the timeof occurrence of a defect, and one or more viewpoint candidates are oneor more offset viewpoints obtained by moving the one viewpoint withrespect to the positions of the respective parts each having a firstpriority that differs from a second priority.

It is used to automatically setting a portion of interest, for example,to implement the automatic viewpoint recording function (13). In thefunction (13), as described above, when the viewpoint has not been movedor the visibility state has not been change for several seconds (apredetermined time period) after movement of the viewpoint, thereproduction information for the viewpoint and the viewpoint image atthat time are automatically recorded.

When automatically setting a portion of interest, theportion-of-interest viewpoint grouping unit 36 groups, among theplurality of recorded viewpoints, the viewpoints having the points ofinterest physically close to one another. From among the plurality ofviewpoints in the same group, one viewpoint (for example, a newviewpoint) is selected as the representative viewpoint by using thefunctions of the new viewpoint reproduction unit 33 and theportion-of-interest viewpoint determination unit 34, for example, thefunction (12).

The mark display control unit 35 controls the display state of theoutput unit 40 so that the reproduction mark described below withreference to FIGS. 28 to 31 and FIG. 34 is displayed on the reproductionmark display unit 42 of the output unit (the display unit) 40. Forexample, the reproduction mark display unit 42 is a function provided bythe mark display control unit 35 controlling the display state of theoutput unit 40.

In addition to displaying the reproduction mark which connects theviewpoint with the point of interest in the reproduction mark displayunit 42 (refer to FIG. 29), the mark display control unit 35 may displaya preview of the visibility state seen at the time of occurrence of adefect when the reproduction mark is hovered over with a cursor (referto FIG. 31). At the time of preview, the mark display control unit 35may display the viewpoint image and the model name of the portion ofinterest in the vicinity of the reproduction mark.

The mark display control unit 35 may switch the visibility state to thestate viewed from the viewpoint indicated by the reproduction mark anddisplay the reproduced image when an operation to select thereproduction mark is performed by using, for example, a mouse.

By using the angular difference between the current line of sight thatconnects the current viewpoint with the point of interest and the lineof sight that connects the viewpoint of the reproduction mark and thepoint of interest, the mark display control unit 35 may perform controlso as to display the reproduction mark close to the current viewpoint inthe reproduction mark display unit 42 in distinction from the otherreproduction marks (refer to FIG. 34). At this time, for example, themark display control unit 35 may perform control so as to display, amongthe plurality of reproduction marks displayed in the reproduction markdisplay unit 42, only the reproduction marks close to the line-of-sightdirection from the current viewpoint position.

The viewpoint moving unit 37 projects the line-of-sight direction (theviewpoint) of the reproduction mark onto the inclusive sphere of thethree-dimensional assembly model to normalize the line-of-sightdirection. Thereafter, the viewpoint moving unit 37 selects the nextprojection viewpoint that is close in distance to the current viewpointon the inclusive sphere in response to an instruction from the inputunit 10 through an arrow key operation performed on the keyboard or ascroll operation using a mouse. For example, in response to aninstruction from the input unit 10, the viewpoint moving unit 37sequentially selects, from among the plurality of reproduction marksprojected onto the inclusive sphere, the ones that are close in distanceto the current viewpoint. In this manner, the viewpoint moving unit 37moves the viewpoint of the viewpoint image to be displayed to theviewpoint associated with the selected reproduction mark (refer to FIG.35) and, thus, reproduces, on the display unit 40, the visibility stateas viewed from the moved viewpoint.

In FIG. 12, the defect information 22 and the viewpoint reproductioninformation 23 regarding the defective portion (the pointed-outportion), in which a defect occurred, may be recorded. In addition, thethree-dimensional assembly model updated in accordance with the progressof design may be reflected in the visibility state in the output unit40.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, if a defect occurs in the design phase of theproduct to be designed, a portion in which the defect occurs (adefective portion) is detected as a portion of interest (a part ofinterest) and is displayed on the output unit 40. As described above,the defect information 22 and the viewpoint reproduction information 23(refer to FIGS. 8 to 11) including the viewpoint and the visibilitystate at the time of displaying the defective portion are acquired bythe reproduction information recording unit 31 and the input unit 10 andare recorded in the storage unit 20 (operation S1).

When the designer or the like references and checks the defectiveportion recorded in the storage unit 20 after recording and storing, forexample, the defect information 22 and the viewpoint reproductioninformation 23 regarding the defective portion in the storage unit 20 inoperation S1, a model whose design has progressed, that is, thereproduction destination model is read. The defect to be reproduced fromthe defect information 22, that is, the reproduction source model isselected, and matching between the reproduction destination model andthe reproduction source model is performed (operation S2).

Thereafter, in accordance with the determination result of matching, thereproduced visibility state of the selected defective portion isdisplayed in the state in which the model whose design has progressed isdisplayed (that is, in the reproduction destination model) based on theviewpoint reproduction information 23 (operation S3).

With the visibility state of the defective portion being reproduced inoperation S3, it is determined whether the shortest distance L1 (referto FIG. 17) between the viewpoint and the part differs from theprojection distance L2 (refer to FIG. 19) between the part and thescreen center of the screen displaying the parts as viewed from theviewpoint (operation S4).

If the difference between the shortest distance L1 and the projectiondistance L2 is zero, that is, if the shortest distance L1 is the same asthe projection distance L2 (“NO” path in operation S4), the shape andthe layout position of each of the parts remain unchanged between thereproduction source model and the reproduction destination model. Thus,the viewing state displayed in operation S3 is reproduced and displayedwithout any change (operation S7).

However, if the difference between the shortest distance L1 and theprojection distance L2 is not zero, for example, if the shortestdistance L1 is not the same as the projection distance L2 (“YES” path inoperation S4), the shape or the layout position of each of the parts hasbeen changed and, thus, the processes in operations S5 to S7 areperformed.

If, in operation S5, an offset is generated between the point ofmeasurement of each of the parts at the time of recording a defect andthe point of measurement of the part after the design progresses, one ormore offset viewpoint are acquired as the candidates for a new viewpointbased on the offset through the function that serves as the newviewpoint reproduction unit 33.

In operation S6, through the function serving as the portion-of-interestviewpoint determination unit 34, one among the viewpoint for the portionof interest at the time of recording and one or more viewpointcandidates is selected as a new viewpoint based on the prioritydetermination value (the priority) or the similarity between the featureamounts. For example, for each of the viewpoints, the prioritydetermination value or the viewpoint image (the similarity between thefeature amounts of the viewpoint images obtained by machine learning) iscompared with that of the viewpoint for the portion of interest at thetime of recording, and a viewpoint having a low priority determinationvalue, that is, a viewpoint having a high priority or a viewpoint havinga high similarity is adopted as a new viewpoint for the portion ofinterest.

In operation S7, through the function serving as the visibility statereproduction unit 32, the visibility state focused on the defectiveportion at the time of occurrence of a defect is reproduced in thethree-dimensional assembly model whose design has progressed and isdisplayed on the output unit (the display unit) 40 with the viewpointmoved to the new viewpoint.

For example, for the visibility state of the three-dimensional assemblymodel whose pointed-out item including the defect information or thelike is being generated, the visual distance from the viewpoint to theface of each of the visible parts in the display area (the area of thefield of view) and the location of the part in the display area (thetwo-dimensional coordinates in the image) may be recorded in addition tothe viewpoint position relative to the origin of the targetthree-dimensional assembly model, the line-of-sight direction, theenlargement factor, and the visibility state of the part.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, if a defect occurs in the design phase of theproduct to be designed, the three-dimensional assembly model at the timeof occurrence of the defect and its visibility state are input by, forexample, the designer operating the input unit 10. For example, athree-dimensional assembly model at the time of occurrence of the defectand its visibility state illustrated in FIG. 14 are input (operationS11). FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a three-dimensional assemblymodel at the time of occurrence of a defect.

At this time, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the details of the defectserving as the defect information 22 are input by, for example, thedesigner operating the input unit 10. The details of the defect arerecorded in the storage unit 20 in association with the defect IDidentifying the defect and the viewpoint reproduction information IDidentifying the viewpoint reproduction information 23 regarding thedefect (operation S12).

When a defect occurs, the field-of-view information 231 (refer to FIG.10) included in the viewpoint reproduction information 23 is acquiredand recorded in the storage unit 20 by the reproduction informationrecording unit 31 (operation S13). The field-of-view information 231includes orientation information of the viewpoint acquired from thevisibility state at the time of occurrence of the defect. Theorientation information of the viewpoint includes the viewpoint position(refer to FIG. 15), the rotation angle, the viewing angle, and theline-of-sight direction (refer to an arrow in FIG. 15) with respect tothe initial position of the viewpoint (the origin (0, 0, 0) of theglobal coordinate system). FIG. 15 illustrates the field-of-viewinformation 231.

As illustrated in FIG. 16, the visible/invisible state of each of theparts is acquired and is recorded in the storage unit 20 by thereproduction information recording unit 31 (operation S14). Informationabout the visible/invisible state is included in the viewpointreproduction information 23. By recording the part ID identifying a partin the invisible state as an invisible part ID (refer to the part ID “C”in FIG. 9), the part with the invisible part ID is not displayed in thescreen, as illustrated in FIG. 16. In contrast, parts each having a partID other than an invisible part ID are displayed in the screen, asillustrated in FIG. 16. FIG. 16 illustrates the visible/invisible stateof a model part.

As illustrated in FIG. 17, the shortest distance (corresponding to thefirst shortest distance) L1 from the viewpoint coordinates (xc, yc, zc)indicating the viewpoint position at the time of occurrence of a defectis calculated. The point (the vertex: the coordinates (xp, yp, zp)) oneach of the parts at the time of calculating the shortest distance L1 isacquired as the point of measurement of the part. For example, theshortest distance L1 may correspond to the distance between theviewpoint coordinates (xc, yc, zc) and the point-of-measurementcoordinates (xp, yp, zp). As illustrated in FIG. 11, the shortestdistance L1 acquired at the time of occurrence of a defect in theabove-described manner is recorded in the storage unit 20 as themeasurement information 232 (operation S15). The shortest distance L1may be acquired by the processing unit 30 and be recorded by thereproduction information recording unit 31. FIG. 17 illustrates theshortest distance L1 (corresponding to the first shortest distance)between the viewpoint and the part.

Information as to whether each of the parts located in the area of thefield of view based on the viewpoint at the time of occurrence of adefect is visible or invisible, for example, information as to whethereach of the parts is identifiable or unidentifiable within the area ofthe field of view is acquired by the reproduction information recordingunit 31 and is recorded as visible/invisible information (refer to FIG.11) (operation S16). In FIG. 18, the part B of the visibility state inthe area of the field of view is recorded as a visible in themeasurement information 232, and the part C of the invisible state inthe area of the field of view is recorded in the measurement information232 as an invisible. FIG. 18 illustrates a visible/invisible in the areaof the field of view.

Thereafter, it is determined whether each of the parts is visible withinthe area of the field of view (operation S17). If the target part isinvisible (“NO” path in operation S17), the processing of the processingunit 30 (the reproduction information recording unit 31) proceeds tooperation S19.

However, if the target part is visible (“YES” path in operation S17),the projection distance L2 (for example, the first projection distance)between the screen center of the display screen that displays the partsas viewed from the viewpoint at the time of occurrence of a defect (forexample, the first screen center of the first display screen) and thetarget part is calculated. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 19, thelength of a line extending between the following two is calculated asthe projection distance L2: the screen center (uc, vc) of the viewpointimage (for example, the display screen) and the coordinates (up, vp) ofa point obtained by projecting the vertex coordinates of the target partat the time of obtaining the shortest distance L1 (for example, thepoint-of-measurement coordinates (xp, yp, zp)) onto the viewpoint image.As illustrated in FIG. 11, the calculated projection distance L2 isrecorded together with the point-of-measurement coordinates (xp, yp, zp)and the face ID and the vertex ID of the model part having the point ofmeasurement thereon in association with the part ID of the target part(operation S18). The projection distance L2, the point-of-measurementcoordinates (xp, yp, zp), the face ID, and the vertex ID may be acquiredby the processing unit 30 and may be recorded by the reproductioninformation recording unit 31. FIG. 19 illustrates the projectiondistance (for example, the first projection distance) L2 between thescreen center and each of the parts.

In operation S19, the reproduction information recording unit 31determines whether the information about all of the parts located in thearea of the field of view has been acquired. If the information aboutall parts in the field of view area has been acquired (“YES” path inoperation S19), the processing unit 30 (the reproduction informationrecording unit 31) completes the recording of the defective portion.However, if the information about all of the parts in the view area hasnot been acquired (“NO” path in operation S19), the processing of theprocessing unit 30 (the reproduction information recording unit 31)returns to operation S14, where the information acquisition process forthe parts whose information has not been acquired is continuouslyperformed.

When the designer or the like references and checks the defectiveportion recorded in the storage unit 20, the design progression modelinput from the input unit 10 by the designer or the like or from anothersystem, that is, the reproduction destination model is read in operationS2 illustrated in FIG. 12 (operation S21). The reproduction destinationmodel is a three-dimensional assembly model, as illustrated in FIG. 14.The reproduction destination three-dimensional assembly model read inthis manner is displayed on the output unit 40.

In response to the operation performed on the input unit 10 by thedesigner or the like, the defect ID of a defect to be reproduced fromthe defect information 22 illustrated in FIG. 8, that is, thereproduction source model is selected (operation S22).

Thereafter, matching is performed between the parts in the modelinformation of the selected defect information and the informationregarding the three-dimensional assembly model, which is thereproduction destination model (operation S23). For example, matching isperformed between the parts of the reproduction source model and theparts of the reproduction destination model. In this manner, it isdetermined whether the part corresponding to both the reproductionsource model and the reproduction destination model is found (thepresence of matching data).

Matching may be performed by automatically or manually determining thepresence of the parts having matched part IDs by using a unique part ID.The matching determination result is used in the processes in operationsS32 and S33 illustrated in FIG. 21.

In the process in operation S3 illustrated in FIG. 12, the processingunit 30 (for example, the visibility state reproduction unit 32)reproduces the visibility state at the time of occurrence of a defect byusing the model whose design has progressed after the occurrence of thedefect (for example, the reproduction destination model) based on therecorded viewpoint reproduction information 23 in a manner describedbelow.

Initial reproduction is performed (operation S31). In the initialreproduction, by using the selected defect ID, the field-of-viewinformation 231 (refer to FIG. 10) corresponding to the defect ID isextracted from the viewpoint reproduction information 23 (refer to FIG.9). The position and orientation of the viewpoint are set to those atthe time of occurrence of a defect based on the extracted field-of-viewinformation 231. For example, by using the origin of the globalcoordinates, the position of the viewpoint is set to the viewpointposition (Xc, Yc, Zc) in the extracted field-of-view information 231.The viewpoint is set at a position obtained by rotating the orientationof the viewpoint (the direction of the line of sight) by the rotationangle (Xθ, Yθ, Zθ) in the extracted field-of-view information 231 withrespect to the three axes X, Y, and Z, respectively.

In the initial reproduction, the parts located in the area of the fieldof view defined by the viewpoint in the extracted field-of-viewinformation 231 and the like are identified. At this time, all of theparts which are at least partially displayed in the area of the field ofview (for example, the display area) are identified, and the part IDs ofthe identified parts are acquired as the reproduction destination modelID.

It is determined whether the reproduction source model part IDcorresponding to the reproduction destination model part ID is able tobe acquired for all of the reproduction destination model partsidentified in operation S31 based on the matching determination resultof the operation S23 illustrated in FIG. 20. If the reproduction sourcemodel part ID corresponding to the reproduction destination model partID is able to be acquired, for example, if there is matching data, thereproduction destination model part having the matching data isdisplayed in accordance with the visible/invisible state of thecorresponding reproduction source model part. That is, the setting of avisibility state is reflected (operation S32).

However, if the reproduction source model part ID corresponding to thereproduction destination model part ID is unable to be acquired, forexample, if the part not having matching data is added, it is determinedwhether in the display area, the reproduction destination model part nothaving matching data covers the face having therein the point ofmeasurement used for calculating the shortest distance. If thereproduction destination model part not having matching data does notcover the point of measurement, the current visibility state remainsunchanged. However, if the reproduction destination model part nothaving the matching data covers the point of measurement, the state ofthe reproduction destination model part not having the matching data ischanged to an invisible state (operation S33).

Thereafter, a covering part process (described below) is performedaccording to the priorities of visibility of the reproduction sourcemodel parts (step S34). If, in the visibility state currentlyreproduced, a part with a low priority covers a part with a highpriority, the state of the part with the lower priority is changed tothe invisible state through the covering part process.

The priority of the visibility of each of the reproduction source modelparts is determined (operation S41). A priority determination value (forexample, a first priority determination value) used to determine thepriority (for example, a first priority) used to display thereproduction source model part is calculated based on the shortestdistance L1 and the projection distance L2 of the reproduction sourcemodel part. The priority determination value is set to a value L1×L2×L2,which is obtained by multiplying the value of the shortest distance bythe square value of the projection distance. The priority determinationvalue decreases as the part is placed closer to the screen center, thatis, with decreasing projection distance of the part. A higher displaypriority is assigned to a part placed closer to the screen center (forexample, parts with a lower priority determination value).

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 24, when a priority determinationvalue of 1000 is calculated as the priority determination value for thepart A and a priority determination value of 2250 is calculated for thepart B, the priority of the part A is set to a value higher than thepriority of the part B. In FIG. 24, the priorities of the parts A and Bare determined as “1” and “2”, respectively. FIG. 24 illustrates anexample of the first priority determination value and the first priorityof a reproduction source model part.

The process in operation S41 is repeatedly performed until the priorityis determined for all of the reproduction source model parts (a pathfrom “NO” path in operations S42 to step S41). If the priorities aredetermined for all of the reproduction source model parts (“YES” path inoperation S42), the covering check is performed in order from the lowestpriority (operation S43).

In the covering check, it is determined whether the target reproductionsource model part covers a part with a higher priority in the displayarea in ascending order of the priority, for example, in descendingorder of the priority determination value. At this time, the coveringcheck is performed by determining whether the point of measurement ofthe reproduction destination model part that is the same as the measurepoint of the reproduction source model part (refer to FIG. 11) isvisible or by determining whether the face having the point ofmeasurement therein is visible. The determination may be made only forthe parts with high priorities, for example, for the parts having thetop two priorities.

If, as a result of the covering check, a part with a lower prioritycovers a part with a higher priority, for example, if the point ofmeasurement is invisible (“YES” path in operation S44), the state of thetarget reproduction source model part is changed to an invisible state(operation S45). Thereafter, the processes in operations S43 to S45 arerepeatedly performed until all of the reproduction source model partsare subjected to the covering check (a path from the “NO” path inoperation S46 to step S43). Upon completion of the covering cover checkfor all of the reproduction source model parts (“YES” path in operationS46), the covering check ends. Note that if, as a result of the coveringcheck, a part with a lower priority does not cover a part with a higherpriority, for example, if the point of measurement is visible (“NO” pathin operation S44), the processing proceeds to operation S46.

The processes in steps S5 and S6 illustrated in FIG. 12 are performed ifit is determined that the shortest distance L1 differs from theprojection distance L2 in the process in operation S4 illustrated inFIG. 12 (“YES” path in operation S4). For example, the processes insteps S5 and S6 are performed if the shape or layout position of thepart has been changed. The processes are performed by the processingunit 30 (the visibility state reproduction unit 32, the new viewpointreproduction unit 33, and the portion-of-interest viewpointdetermination unit 34).

The priority determination value (for example, a first prioritydetermination value) and the priority (for example, a first priority)for the reproduction source model part are acquired (operation S51). Interms of the viewpoint that is the same viewpoint for the reproductionsource model part, the priority determination value (for example, asecond priority determination value) and the priority (for example, asecond priority) for the reproduction destination model part areacquired (operation S52). Since the process in operation S51 issubstantially the same as the above-described process in operation S41,operation S51 may be replaced with operation S41.

In operation S51, as described above, a first priority determinationvalue used to determine a first priority for displaying each of thereproduction source model parts is calculated based on the firstshortest distance L1 and the first projection distance L2 of thereproduction source model part. The first priority determination valueis a value L1×L2×L2, which is obtained by multiplying the value of thefirst shortest distance by the square value of the first projectiondistance. The first priority determination value decreases as the partis placed closer to the first screen center, for example, withdecreasing first projection distance of the part. A higher displaypriority is set for a part placed closer to the first screen center,that is, a part with a lower priority determination value). In FIG. 24,the first priorities of the parts A and B are determined as “1” and “2”,respectively.

In operation S52, a second priority determination value for determiningthe second priority for displaying each of the reproduction destinationmodel parts is calculated based on the second shortest distance L1 andthe second projection distance L2 of the reproduction source model part.Like the first priority determination value, the second prioritydetermination value is set to a value of L1×L2×L2, which is obtained bymultiplying the value of the second shortest distance by the squarevalue of the second projection distance. The second prioritydetermination value decreases as the part is placed closer to the secondscreen center, for example, with decreasing second projection distanceof the part. A higher display priority is set for a part placed closerto the second screen center, for example, a part with a lower prioritydetermination value.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 25, if a priority determinationvalue of 1573 is calculated as the priority determination value for thepart A and a priority determination value of 175 is calculated as thepriority determination value for the part B, the priority of the part Bis set to be higher than the priority of the part A. In FIG. 25, thesecond priorities of the parts A and B are determined as “2” and “1”,respectively, which are reversed from the priorities of the reproductionsource model parts A and B illustrated in FIG. 24. FIG. 25 illustratesan example of the second priority determination values and the secondpriorities of the reproduction destination model parts.

As described above, when the first priority of the reproduction sourcemodel part and the second priority of the reproduction destination modelpart are determined for the same viewpoint, it is determined whether thefirst priority differs from the second priority (operation S53). If thefirst priority and the second priority are the same (“NO” path inoperation S53), it is determined that the parts A and B each having ahigh priority have not been significantly changed between thereproduction source model and the reproduction destination model, andthe processing proceeds to operation S7 illustrated in FIG. 12.

However, if the first priority differs from the second priority (“YES”path in operation S53), it is determined that a big change occurred inthe parts A and B each having a high priority between the reproductionsource model and the reproduction destination model. In this case, it ishighly likely that the original states of the parts A and B (thevisibility states of the reproduction source model parts) change and,thus, the part of interest (the portion of interest) is almostinvisible. Therefore, to change the position of the viewpoint so thatthe part of interest is easily seen, a new viewpoint is selected fromamong a plurality (for example, four) viewpoint candidates (operationsS54 to S56).

At this time, it is assumed that as illustrated in FIG. 26, offset(shifting) occurs between the points of measurement of the reproductionsource model parts A and B (for example, the reproduction sourcepoint-of-measurement positions) and those of the reproductiondestination model parts A and B (for example, the reproductiondestination point-of-measurement positions), respectively. FIG. 26illustrates an example of offset values between the reproduction sourcemodel part and the reproduction destination model part. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 26, an offset of (2, 0, 0) occurs for the part A,and an offset of (−1, 0, 0) occurs for the part B with reference to thepoint of measurement in the reproduction source model. The top twopriorities of the parts A and B in the reproduction source model arechanged in the reproduction destination model. Accordingly, asillustrated in FIG. 27, the following four viewpoints are obtained asthe viewpoint candidates: the viewpoint in the reproduction destinationmodel (the original viewpoint), the offset viewpoint based on the partA, the offset viewpoint based on the part B, the viewpoint at the offsetmidpoint (the midpoint between the offset viewpoint based on the part Aand the offset viewpoint based on the part B) (operation S54). FIG. 27illustrates an example of the positions of the candidates for a newviewpoint.

The priority determination value (for example, a third prioritydetermination value) and the priority in the case of adopting each ofthe viewpoint candidates are calculated and determined in the samemanner as in FIG. 25 (operation S55). Thereafter, for each of theviewpoint candidates, the sum of the two priority determination valuescalculated for the top two parts A and B is calculated (1573+175=1748 inthe example illustrated in FIG. 25). Among the four viewpointcandidates, the one having the smallest sum is selected as the newviewpoint (operation S56).

A single new viewpoint is selected from among a plurality of viewpointcandidates based on the sum of the priority determination values.However, the present disclosure is not limited to the scheme. A newviewpoint may be selected from among the viewpoint candidates based onthe similarity between the feature amounts obtained by comparing thereproduction source image with the viewpoint candidate image as viewedfrom each of the viewpoint candidates, in addition to the sum of thepriority determination values.

In this way, a viewpoint with a high priority or a viewpoint with a highsimilarity of the image feature amount is adopted as a new viewpoint forthe portion of interest. In the three-dimensional assembly model whosedesign has progressed, the visibility state focused on the defectiveportion at the time of occurrence of a defect is reproduced anddisplayed on the output unit (the display unit) 40 with the viewpointchanged to the adopted new viewpoint (operation S7 in FIG. 12).

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 28, the visibility state of thethree-dimensional assembly model is defined by, for example, theviewpoint position, the line-of-sight direction, and the point ofinterest in a space having the three-dimensional assembly model therein.The viewpoint position, the line-of-sight direction, and the point ofinterest are included in the field-of-view information 231 (refer toFIG. 10). The point of interest is the intersection point of the line ofsight and the part. The point of interest may correspond to, forexample, a defective point, a defective portion, a portion of interest,or a point of interest. FIG. 28 illustrates the viewpoint/line ofsight/point of interest.

At this time, as illustrated in FIG. 29, the reproduction mark displayunit 42 of the output unit 40 displays the field-of-view information 231including the position of the viewpoint, the direction of the line ofsight, the position of the point of interest as a reproduction markwhich indicates the viewpoint, the line of sight, and the point ofinterest on the three-dimensional assembly model. FIG. 29 illustrates anexample of a displayed reproduction mark corresponding to theviewpoint/line of sight/point of interest illustrated in FIG. 28.

As illustrated in FIG. 30, when all of the parts of thethree-dimensional assembly model are in a visible state (for example, afully visible state), a point of interest (for example, a part ofinterest) is invisible from the viewpoint of the reproduction mark. Evenin such a case, as illustrated in FIG. 30, the output unit 40 maydisplay the reproduction mark such that the reproduction mark representsthe line of sight from the viewpoint to the point of interest through apart in a visible state. FIG. 30 illustrates an example of the fullyvisible state and the displayed reproduction mark.

As illustrated in FIG. 31, when a three-dimensional assembly model and areproduction mark are displayed and if a reproduction mark is hoveredover with a cursor by, for example, the designer operating the inputunit 10, the visibility state seen from the viewpoint and theline-of-sight direction corresponding to the reproduction mark (forexample, a visibility state at the time of occurrence of a defect) ispreviewed. At this time, a preview screen (for example, a view imageafter switching of the viewpoint) may be displayed in the vicinity ofthe reproduction mark, or the view image and the model name of theportion of interest, for example, may be displayed. In such a visibilitystate, by performing an operation to select the reproduction mark byusing a mouse or the like, the visibility state on the output unit 40may be changed to the state seen from the viewpoint defined by thereproduction mark (the view image after the viewpoint switching in FIG.31). FIG. 31 illustrates an example of the visibility state seen duringthe preview and the displayed reproduction mark.

If a displayed image from a certain viewpoint satisfies a predeterminedcondition (for example, the image has been displayed for a predeterminedtime period or longer) by the operation performed by, for example, thedesigner, the reproduction information recording unit 31 mayautomatically record the viewpoint reproduction information 23. Anacquisition/recording operation of the viewpoint reproductioninformation 23 performed by the reproduction information recording unit31 when the predetermined condition is satisfied is described below. Atthis time, the visibility state reproduction unit 32 reproduces anddisplays, on the output unit 40, the visibility state of the portion ofinterest seen from the viewpoint that the designer or the likefrequently uses based on the viewpoint reproduction information 23recorded in the storage unit 20.

As illustrated in FIG. 32, for example, when viewpoint movement or avisibility state change has not been performed for several seconds (thepredetermined time period) after movement of the viewpoint, theviewpoint reproduction information 23 (refer to FIGS. 8 to 11) and theviewpoint image from the viewpoint are acquired and automaticallyrecorded by the reproduction information recording unit 31 (operationS61).

At the time of automatic setting of the portion of interest, theportion-of-interest viewpoint grouping unit 36 groups the viewpointseach located physically close to the point of interest among theplurality of recorded viewpoints (operation S62).

By using a function the same as the function (12), for example, thefunctions serving as the new viewpoint reproduction unit 33 and theportion-of-interest viewpoint determination unit 34, one among theplurality of viewpoints in the same group (for example, a new viewpoint)is selected as a representative viewpoint (operations S63 and S64).

In operation S63, a plurality of viewpoints in the same group areconsidered as viewpoint candidates.

In operation S64, the priority determination value and the priority inthe case of adopting each of the viewpoint candidates are calculated anddetermined in the same manner as in FIG. 25. Thereafter, for each of theviewpoint candidates, for example, the sum of the priority determinationvalues calculated for the top two parts A and B is calculated. Fromamong the plurality of viewpoint candidates, the one having the smallestsum is selected as a new viewpoint (for example, a representativepoint).

A reproduction mark is generated for the selected new viewpoint and isdisplayed on the output unit 40 (operation S65). If a plurality ofreproduction marks are displayed in operation S65, a display methoddescribed below may be employed as illustrated in FIG. 34.

In this way, according to the viewpoint automatic recording function(13), the viewpoint that satisfies the predetermined condition and achange in its visibility state are recorded, and the representativepoint of the viewpoint frequently used is displayed on the output unit40 in the form of a reproduction mark. By performing an operation on thereproduction mark displayed on the output unit 40, the designer or thelike reproduces and displays, on the output unit 40, the visibilitystate of the portion of interest seen from the viewpoint that thedesigner or the like uses frequently.

As illustrated in FIG. 33, it is determined whether the viewpoint or thevisibility state has changed within several seconds (for example, thepredetermined time period) (operation S72) after the designer or thelike moved the viewpoint or the visibility state changed (operationS71). If the viewpoint or the visibility state has changed within thepredetermined time period (“YES” path in operation S72), the processingreturns to operation S71, where the next movement of the viewpoint or avisibility state change is performed.

However, if the viewpoint or the visibility state has not changed withinthe predetermined time period (“NO” path in operation S72), theprocesses in operations S73 to S79 (for example, recording of theviewpoint) are performed based on the moved viewpoint. The processes inoperations S73 to S79 illustrated in FIG. 33 may be the same as theprocesses in operations S13 to S19 illustrated in FIG. 13, respectively.

The display control may be applied when the mark display control unit 35displays a plurality of reproduction marks in operation S65 illustratedin FIG. 32.

At this time, according to the display control, only the reproductionmark that is close to the line-of-sight direction from the currentviewpoint position among the plurality of reproduction marks displayedin the reproduction mark display unit 42 (for example, the output unit40) is displayed, as illustrated in FIG. 34.

As illustrated in FIG. 35, when a plurality of (for example, three)reproduction marks are dispersedly displayed at various positions, theviewpoint moving unit 37 projects the line-of-sight direction (forexample, viewpoint) of the reproduction mark onto the inclusive sphereof the three-dimensional assembly model to normalize the line-of-sightdirection. In response to an instruction from the input unit 10, such asan operation performed on an arrow key of a keyboard or a mouse scrolloperation, the viewpoint moving unit 37 moves the viewpoint from thecurrent viewpoint to the next viewpoint that is close in distance to thecurrent viewpoint on the inclusive sphere (for example, a projectionviewpoint).

For example, in response to an instruction from the input unit 10, fromamong the plurality of projection viewpoints projected on the inclusivesphere, the ones close in distance to the current projection viewpoint(for example, a reproduction mark corresponding to the projectionviewpoint) are sequentially selected. In this manner, the viewpoint ofthe viewpoint image to be displayed is moved to the viewpointrepresented by the selected reproduction mark, and the visibility stateseen from the moved viewpoint is reproduced on the display unit 40. Inthis manner, viewpoint movement may be easily performed.

Movement of the viewpoint using the inclusive spheres described above isused by the designer or the like to easily select a registeredviewpoint. By projecting a viewpoint onto the inclusive sphere and usingthe projected viewpoint, the viewpoint for seeing a nearby part and theviewpoint for seeing a distant part are selected by the projectionviewpoints projected on the same inclusive sphere. For example, byweighing selection of the line-of-sight direction more heavily thanselection of the viewpoint position, the viewpoint position for adisplayed zoom-in image of the nearby part may be immediately andaccurately moved to the viewpoint position for a displayed wide zoom-outrange including a distant part and vice versa.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the inventionand the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, andare to be construed as being without limitation to such specificallyrecited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of suchexamples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority andinferiority of the invention. Although the embodiment of the presentinvention has been described in detail, it should be understood that thevarious changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made heretowithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus comprising: aprocessor; and a memory configured to store a design support programexecuted by the processor, the processor: calculates a first prioritydetermination value for a first priority to display each of a pluralityof parts at the first time point for each of the plurality of parts at afirst time point during a design, based on a first shortest distancebetween a first viewpoint and the respective parts and based on a firstprojection distance between the respective parts and a first screencenter of a first display screen that displays a state of the respectiveparts as viewed from the first viewpoint at the first time point;calculates, for each of the parts at a second time point after the firsttime point, a second priority determination value for a second priorityto display the respective parts at the second time point based on asecond shortest distance between the first viewpoint and the respectiveparts and a second projection distance between a second screen center ofa second display screen that displays a state of the respective parts asviewed from the first viewpoint at the second time point and therespective parts; calculates, when the first priority based on the firstpriority determination value differs from the second priority based onthe second priority determination value, a third priority determinationvalue corresponding to the second priority determination value byreplacing the first viewpoint with each of one or more viewpointcandidates other than the first viewpoint; selects, as a new firstviewpoint, a second viewpoint from among the first viewpoint and the oneor more viewpoint candidates based on the third priority determinationvalue; reproduces an image of the respective parts at the first timepoint as viewed from the new viewpoint; and displays the image on adisplay circuit, the first priority determination value is obtained bymultiplying a value of the first shortest distance by a square value ofthe first projection distance, and the second priority determinationvalue is obtained by multiplying a value of the second shortest distanceby a square value of the second projection distance.
 2. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor:calculates, for each of the parts at the first time point, the firstpriority determination value such that the first priority determinationvalue decreases as the respective parts is closer to the first screencenter and determines the first priority for the respective parts suchthat the first priority increases as the first priority determinationvalue of the respective parts decreases; and calculates, for each of theparts at the second time point, the second priority determination valuesuch that the second priority determination value decreases as therespective parts is closer to the second screen center and determinesthe second priority for the respective parts such that the secondpriority increases as the second priority determination value of therespective parts decreases.
 3. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor selects, as the new firstviewpoint, the second viewpoint having the smallest sum value from amonga sum of the second priority determination values of the respectiveparts calculated for the first viewpoint and sums of the third prioritydetermination values of the respective parts calculated for each of theviewpoint candidates.
 4. The information processing apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the first viewpoint is a viewpoint at the first timepoint at which a defect of a part occurs, and the one or more viewpointcandidates are one or more offset viewpoints obtained by moving thefirst viewpoint with reference to a position of each of the parts havingthe first priority and the second priority that differ from each other.5. A design support method comprising: calculating, by a computer, afirst priority determination value for a first priority to display eachof a plurality of parts at the first time point for each of theplurality of parts at a first time point during a design, based on afirst shortest distance between a first viewpoint and the respectiveparts and based on a first projection distance between the respectiveparts and a first screen center of a first display screen that displaysa state of the respective parts as viewed from the first viewpoint atthe first time point; calculating, for each of the parts at a secondtime point after the first time point, a second priority determinationvalue for a second priority to display the respective parts at thesecond time point based on a second shortest distance between the firstviewpoint and the respective parts and a second projection distancebetween a second screen center of a second display screen that displaysa state of the respective parts as viewed from the first viewpoint atthe second time point and the respective parts; calculating, when thefirst priority based on the first priority determination value differsfrom the second priority based on the second priority determinationvalue, a third priority determination value corresponding to the secondpriority determination value by replacing the first viewpoint with eachof one or more viewpoint candidates other than the first viewpoint;selecting, as a new first viewpoint, a second viewpoint from among thefirst viewpoint and the one or more viewpoint candidates based on thethird priority determination value; reproducing an image of therespective parts at the first time point as viewed from the newviewpoint; and displaying the image on a display circuit, the firstpriority determination value is obtained by multiplying a value of thefirst shortest distance by a square value of the first projectiondistance, and the second priority determination value is obtained bymultiplying a value of the second shortest distance by a square value ofthe second projection distance.
 6. The design support method accordingto claim 5, further comprising: calculating, for each of the parts atthe first time point, the first priority determination value such thatthe first priority determination value decreases as the respective partsis closer to the first screen center and determines the first priorityfor the respective parts such that the first priority increases as thefirst priority determination value of the respective parts decreases;and calculating, for each of the parts at the second time point, thesecond priority determination value such that the second prioritydetermination value decreases as the respective parts is closer to thesecond screen center and determines the second priority for therespective parts such that the second priority increases as the secondpriority determination value of the respective parts decreases.
 7. Thedesign support method according to claim 5, the second viewpoint havingthe smallest sum value from among a sum of the second prioritydetermination values of the respective parts calculated for the firstviewpoint and sums of the third priority determination values of therespective parts calculated for each of the viewpoint candidates iscalculated as the new first viewpoint.
 8. The design support methodaccording to claim 5, wherein the first viewpoint is a viewpoint at thefirst time point at which a defect of a part occurs, and the one or moreviewpoint candidates are one or more offset viewpoints obtained bymoving the first viewpoint with reference to a position of each of theparts having the first priority and the second priority that differ fromeach other.
 9. A non-transitory computer-readable recording mediumstoring design support program which causes a computer to performoperations, the operations comprising: calculating, by a computer, afirst priority determination value for a first priority to display eachof a plurality of parts at the first time point for each of theplurality of parts at a first time point during a design, based on afirst shortest distance between a first viewpoint and the respectiveparts and based on a first projection distance between the respectiveparts and a first screen center of a first display screen that displaysa state of the respective parts as viewed from the first viewpoint atthe first time point; calculating, for each of the parts at a secondtime point after the first time point, a second priority determinationvalue for a second priority to display the respective parts at thesecond time point based on a second shortest distance between the firstviewpoint and the respective parts and a second projection distancebetween a second screen center of a second display screen that displaysa state of the respective parts as viewed from the first viewpoint atthe second time point and the respective parts; calculating, when thefirst priority based on the first priority determination value differsfrom the second priority based on the second priority determinationvalue, a third priority determination value corresponding to the secondpriority determination value by replacing the first viewpoint with eachof one or more viewpoint candidates other than the first viewpoint;selecting, as a new first viewpoint, a second viewpoint from among thefirst viewpoint and the one or more viewpoint candidates based on thethird priority determination value; reproducing an image of therespective parts at the first time point as viewed from the newviewpoint; and displaying the image on a display circuit, the firstpriority determination value is obtained by multiplying a value of thefirst shortest distance by a square value of the first projectiondistance, and the second priority determination value is obtained bymultiplying a value of the second shortest distance by a square value ofthe second projection distance.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium according to claim 9, further comprising: calculating,for each of the parts at the first time point, the first prioritydetermination value such that the first priority determination valuedecreases as the respective parts is closer to the first screen centerand determines the first priority for the respective parts such that thefirst priority increases as the first priority determination value ofthe respective parts decreases; and calculating, for each of the partsat the second time point, the second priority determination value suchthat the second priority determination value decreases as the respectiveparts is closer to the second screen center and determines the secondpriority for the respective parts such that the second priorityincreases as the second priority determination value of the respectiveparts decreases.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable recordingmedium according to claim 9, the second viewpoint having the smallestsum value from among a sum of the second priority determination valuesof the respective parts calculated for the first viewpoint and sums ofthe third priority determination values of the respective partscalculated for each of the viewpoint candidates is calculated as the newfirst viewpoint.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable recordingmedium according to claim 9, wherein the first viewpoint is a viewpointat the first time point at which a defect of a part occurs, and the oneor more viewpoint candidates are one or more offset viewpoints obtainedby moving the first viewpoint with reference to a position of each ofthe parts having the first priority and the second priority that differfrom each other.